Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, data, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., bandwidth and transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems.
The wireless communication system further employs a broadcast system, wherein portion of the forward link resources are dedicated for broadcasting content. In the broadcast system, all the recipients process data received on the dedicated channel on the forward link (i.e., frequency tones that make up a shared channel), as if the information was targeted for the recipient. A typical broadcast system does not require any acknowledgement from the recipients regarding the reception of data. However, operators of the system, generally configure the AP (or access points) to use low data rate (e.g., repeat the transmission data packets that make up the content) and at high power in order to insure that all the mobile stations within the base station's coverage area receive the content, including any mobile stations that are far from the base station. However, low data rates are generally needed only for mobile stations that operate far from the currently servicing base station. Thus, all the mobile stations that operate near the base station cannot enjoy higher data rates.
Therefore, a method is needed to manage the broadcast resources to reduce the coverage hole.